25

After attending the most spectacular dinner party in New York, I left the Big Apple inspired and committed to taking some of what I learned from the talented Kelley Moore and implementing it in my own life. So for my 25th birthday (which is officially today!), I decided to host a small dinner party for my very best girlfriends. This meant invitations, fancy tabletop, appetizers, and cooking a meal for five (I've only cooked a meal for two a handful of times, so this was intimidating). The theme was black and sparkly, as indicated on the invites, so I wanted everything to do exactly that - sparkle!

TOP: gold chargers and pink cloth napkins are from World Market; white square dishes are from West Elm; the wooden letters/place cards are from JoAnn Fabrics but I painted them gold; one and a half yards of sparkly black tulle covered my white linen tablecloth to add a bit of dazzle pizazz to the tabletop.

BOTTOM LEFT: I used designer Nathan Turner's suggestion and wrapped sparkly black scrapbook paper around a clear vase. I added a bunch of hot pink roses and voila!

BOTTOM RIGHT: I designed the invitations in Photoshop, printed them off, mounted them on black card stock, and sent them off to the ladies - instructing them of the black and sparkly dress code.

Needless to say, the party was a huge success! I knew the gals were impressed when they started taking photos of the table, and the fact that they all showed up in black and sparkles made it that much better. We dined, we drank, the played a fun "how well do you really know each other" trivia game that I had set up, and then we ventured out to dance the night away.

Saturday night I had dinner with my family, tonight Nate's taking me on a date to my favorite French restaurant, and this Saturday I get to celebrate in San Francisco with my Rue girls and other favorite bloggers!

25, it is so nice to meet you! I welcome you with open arms!